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POLITICO 44

CHARLESTON, W. Va. — A day before Washington's leaders arrive to pay their respects, West Virginians gathered here to say goodbye to their beloved senior senator, the longest-serving in American history.

In the early evening, residents lined the streets outside the stone-and-glass courthouse bearing the late senator's name to watch his funeral procession, which began at the courthouse and ended at the state house on a cool summer evening. As Scottish bagpipes played, Byrd's casket was escorted by horse-drawn carriage down Kanawha Boulevard, along the riverfront. Governor Joe Manchin, Rep Shelley Moore-Caputo, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and other state officials walked behind the carriage, as did a crowd of locals bearing miniature American flags and "BYRD for West Virginia" campaign signs.

If Senator Byrd is remembered in Washington as a defender of the Constitution, master appropriator, skilled orator and bastion of tradition, here he is remembered for things far more prosaic: his Christian faith, his love for his wife, and the way he would remember the names of people he had met long ago.

Mostly, he was remembered as their native son—a man who delivered funds year after year for their state, who was just as comfortable with a fiddle under his chin as he was giving a speech on the Senate floor.

"He made us look good," said Pat Drennan, a lifelong resident who said she'd crossed party lines to vote for Senator Byrd. "He could play the fiddle as well as speak in Congress. He had that local color.”

As the crowd made its way along the waterfront, they broke into renditions of "Amazing Grace" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads." The two-mile procession ended at the state's gold-domed capitol building, where an honor guard lined the steps and the senator's casket was draped in the West Virginian flag. Four C-130 airplanes flew over the capital just before sunset, and Manchin recited Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Crossing the Bar," a favorite of Senator Byrd's.

The senator's coffin was open for viewing throughout the night in the Charleston, and well-wishers wrapped around the building late into the night.

The first floor of Governor Joe Manchin's office was open for visitors, who wrote letters to Byrd's family. Memorial cards were distributed with a photo of the senator. Underneath the photo was a quote of his: “When I am gone and opened, they will find West Virginia in my heart."

The senator's remains were flown in earlier today after a ceremony on the Senate floor, where Byrd's coffin lay in repose, a ritual that has not been conducted for nearly a half-century. His casket rested on the same wooden catafalque that elevated Abraham Lincoln's casket 145 years ago – both honors that required agreement from Senate colleagues.

Byrd's coffin will remain there through the memorial service Friday morning, which the president and vice president are to attend, as is Majority Leader Harry Reid, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the West Virginia congressional delegation. State government employees in counties that permit it will be given the day off to attend the service.

After the memorial, there will be a funeral service, open to the public, Tuesday at the Memorial Baptist Church in Arlington, Va. After, the senator will be laid to rest in a private cemetary, next to his wife of 69 years, Erma, who died in 2006.

May Senator Robert Byrd rest in peace. Having said that as I would say the same for any human being that has passed, let me caution Democrats to take note of how the life and political career of Robert Byrd is being saluted and celebrated throughout the country. It isn't!!! For all the Democrat ballyhoo about the great Senator Byrd, his and the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy are truly "Ho-Hum" with the overwhelming majority of the American people. Shucks, Kennedy in his passing could not insure his senate seat for his beloved Democrat Party. And, Byrd, while noted in his home state of West Virginia is a blank for the rest of the country. Too bad the Democrat Party does not get it!!! Democrat folks, you stay with Obama and...you are going down without a whimper. Wise up, fools!!!